Locking safety pin



g- 1950 E. P. MANOLOPULOS 2,519,915

LOCKING SAFETY PIN Filed June 24, 1948 3nnentor Jaye 6f. 77a 0/0 0u/as BB wig (Ittomegs Patented Aug. 22, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT orr cs LOCKING SAFETY PIN Eugene P. Manolopulos, Ypsilanti, Mich. Application June 24, 1948, Serial No. 34,999 4 Claims. (01. 24-156) pin which cannot be opened either accidentally or by an infant, until a positively-acting lock is withdrawn from the path of the pin or piercing portion of the safety pin, thereby preventing accidental swallowing of the safety pin or injury to the infant from the point of the open pin.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a locking safety pin according to a preferred form of the invention, with the pin lock in its locking position;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but showing the pin lock in its unlocked position, and with the open position of the pin shown in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a cross-section along the line 3-3 in Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a cross-section along the line 44 in Figure 2.

Safety pins of the conventional types hitherto employed have frequently caused serious accidents and occasional loss of life particularly among infants when the pin became open either through accident or through the efforts of the infant or carelessness. Open safety pins are a constant hazard, not only through the danger of the person being pierced by the unprotected pin point, but also through serious consequences resulting from an infant swallowing an open safety pin. As a result of swallowing such open safety pins, many infants have lost their lives and others subjected to painful and hazardous operations, often after flying the infants across country to reach a hospital equipped with the proper instruments for extracting an open safety pin.

The present invention completely eliminates the danger of a, safety pin being opened either accidentally or by the efforts of the infant, by providing a positive lock which is interposed in the path of the pin which it is necessary to take while being opened. The pin can be opened only when this lock is withdrawn, and the withdrawal of the lock is beyond the power of an infant because it requires the use of a, fairly stiff fingernail, which an infant does not possess.

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figures 1 and 2 show a locking safety pin, generally designated 19, according to a preferred form of the invention, shown in its locked and unlocked positions respectively. The safety pin it includes the wire member I! which in turn consists of a pin portion I2 with a, pointed end IS, a loop spring portion i l and a wire back portion l5 terminating in an (upwardly curved end i6. The wire member H is of resilient material so that the pin portion 52 will spring to the dotted line position of Figure 2 when the safety pin is opened. When the pin is closed, however, as shown in Figure 1, the spring pressure caused by the resilience of the pin member I l urges the pin portion l2 into its safety position.

Secured to the upcurved end it of the back portion I5 is a head ll generally U-shaped in form constructed of sheet metal or other sheet material. The lower arm 18 of the head H is bent around the upcurved end IB'of the back portion l5 and its free edges are bent together side by side to form a safety projection or hump I!) having an abutment tip 28. The upper arm 2| of the head I! has its free edges 22 bent into approximately U-shaped cross-section to provide a channel-like recess for receiving the pointed end l3 of the pin portion l2. The gap 23 between the edges 22 of the pin point receiving portion 2| and the abutment tips 29 of the hump I1 is of just sufficient width to permit the lateral passage of the pin portion !2 with but a slight clearance.

The connecting portion 24 of the head I! is provided with an aperture 25 of approximately rectangular outline for the passage of the shank 26 of a locking bolt 21'. The latter is preferably of resilient material and at its outer end is provided with a knob 28 by which the lock may be grasped. The locking bolt 2'! at its opposite end is provided with a downwardly extending prong or contact portion 29, preferably slightly inclined or angled relatively to the bolt 2']. The lower end of the prong 29 engages the abutment end portions 20 of the hump I? when the locking .bolt 27 is in its locked position. In this position, the inner end 38 of the bolt 21 is wedged into the space between the side walls 3| of the head portion 22!, almost or actually in contact'with the end portion I3 of the pin portion 12, depending upon the width of the bolt 27. The locking bolt 21 may consist of a single strip of material, such as metal, or, as shown, may be formed from bending together the opposite ends of such a strip to form a double strip, the upper and lower portions 32 and 33 of which lie alongside one another. Under such circumstances, the prong 29 projects downward from the lower strip portion 33 and the end 30 is formed on the upper strip portion 32.

In the operation of the invention, let it be assumed that the safety pin is in the open position shown in chain lines in Figure 2. The pin portion [2 is inserted in the ordinary way in the 'material to be pinned, leaving the pointed end l3 projecting. The fingers are then used to force the pointed end l3 towards its solid line position of Figure 2, passing it through the gap 23 under the free edges 22 and permitting its resilience to force it upward into the channel-like recess 34 in the arm portion 2| of the head IT. The pin now occupies the position shown in Figure 3.

To positively lock the pin portion l2 against withdrawal, the operator now grasps theknob 28 and pushes the locking bolt 21 from its extended or unlocked position of Figure 2 inwardly into its locked position of Figure 1. As the prong 29 comes into contact with the abutment portions 29 of the hump 11, its resilience causes it to push the end 30 upward into the recess 34 with a wedging action, positively preventing the pin portion I2 from being withdrawn from the recess 34.

To release the lock and open the safety pin, the operator inserts a fingernail or other implement between the knob 28 and the connecting portion 24 of the head l1 and pulls the bolt 21 outward, withdrawing the bolt 21 from its locked position of Figure 1 to its unlocked position of Figure 2. This action removes the obstacle and clears the path for the pin point l3 so that the pin portion [2 may be pressed downward toward the back portion so as to cause the pointed end I3 to pass out of the recess 34, around the free edges 22 of the side portions 3|, and laterally through the gap 23. When the pin portionl2 is released, it flies upward into the chain line position of Figure 2, whereupon it may be withdrawn from the material.

In order to provide an additional safeguard, and also to prevent the withdrawal of the looking bolt 21 entirely out of the slot 25, with consequent danger of losing it, the end 30 of the looking bolt 21 is preferably bent upward in the opposite direction to the prong 29 and notched as at 35 (Figures 2 and 3). The notched bent end 35 engages and receives the pin portion l2, further looking it in position and also tending to wedge the portions 29 and 35 tightly between the abutment portions of the hump I9 and the pin portion I2. During assembly, the locking bolt 21 is preferably inserted through the slot with its ends 29 and unbent or with only one such end bent. After the bolt has been thus inserted, either one or both ends 29 and 30 are then bent oppositely to one another, the end 30 having been previously notched as at 35.

What I claim is:

1. In a safety pin having a spring pin portion resiliently insertable into a recess in an approximately U-shaped head portion with an abutment disposed in closely spaced relationship with the entrance to said recess, a locking device comprising an approximately T-shaped locking member selectively movable between said abutment and the pin portion in said recess into and out of closing relationship with said recess, said locking 4 member having a shank with a handle portion at one end thereof and oppositely bent portions at the other end thereof one of said portions being engageable with said abutment in the locking position of said locking member and the other portion extending toward said pin portion.

2. In a safety pin having a spring pin portion resiliently insertable into a recess in an approximately U-shaped head portion with an abutment disposed in closely spaced relationship with the entrance to said recess, a locking device comprising an approximately T-shaped locking member selectively movable between said abutment and the pin portion in said recess into and out of closing relationship with said recess, said locking member having a shank with oppositely-bent portions adjacent its inner end, one of said portions being engageable with said abutment and the other portion extending toward said pin portion, said head portion having an opening therein and said shank extending outwardly through said opening.

3, In a safety pin having a spring pin portion resiliently insertable into a recess in an approximately U-shaped head portion with an abutment disposed in closely spaced relationship with the entrance to said recess, a locking device comprising an approximately T-shaped locking member selectively movable between said abutment and the pin portion in said recess into and out of closing relationship with said recess, said locking member having a shank with oppositely-bent portions adjacent its inner end, one of said portions being engageable with said abutment and the other portion extending toward said pin portion and having a notch therein receiving said pin portion.

4. In a safety pin having a spring pin portion resiliently insertable into a recess in an approximately U-shaped head portion with an abutment disposed in closely spaced relationship with the ntrance to said recess, a locking device comprising an approximately T-shaped locking member selectively movable between said abutment and the pin portion in said recess into and out of closing relationship with said recess, said locking member having a shank with oppositely-bent portions adjacent its inner end, one of said portions being engageable with said abutment and the other portion extending toward said pin portion and having spaced upwardly-extending projections lying on opposite sides of said pin portion. EUGENE P. MANOLOPULOS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,588,967 Kramer June 15, 1926 2,030,674 Abrams Feb. ll, 19% 2,212,889 Thoresen Aug. 27, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 182,477 Great Britain July 5, 1923 567,963 France Dec. 14, 1923 586,902 France Jan. 10, 1925 

